Zachary LeBlanc

The End

The Eighth Day of the Fifth Month of the Year 2013

The End

So, here I am. Sitting at home after finishing my first year at Norwich University. I almost never even went to college, but I am glad that I did. Attending Norwich has been one of the best decisions that I have ever made. It's had its ups and downs, but it has been a great road traveled. I met the greatest and most beautiful girl of my entire life, and I am completely in love with her. I have had great professors, great friends, and great classes. I have enjoyed every second of being at Norwich and I have enjoyed being at college. I've accomplished a lot this year and I don't know what I would have done if I had not met the people that I have met or if I had not gone to Norwich. As time winds down for everyone else at Norwich, I look forward to what the next three years will hold, but at the same time, I really don't want to find out too fast. Freshman year in college had to be one of the fastest years of my life and I don't doubt that the next three years will go by any slower. I have met many new people in college, some good, some bad, but I still have never second guessed myself about attending Norwich. I will be an Officer for Maroon and Gold Key next year, I will get to go to encampment for Civil Air Patrol this summer, and I will get to take some more great classes for my major including a Virtual Network Systems Administration course so the chance of getting an internship will greatly increase as well as getting a job after graduating. But for now, I have three years to go, and a lot more to experience. Well, I guess that's all for now. It's been a great year and I will be back at the end of August. Godspeed. Norwich Forever. 

The Difference

The Thirtieth Day of the Fifth Month of the Year 2013

The Difference

Norwich isn't your average college. In fact, it isn't even close to your average college. What other college do you know that the students salute professors, salute other students, and an entire group of students come together at 0745 for formation to salute the flag as it is being raised for the day's events? What other college do you know where the majority of professors are in uniform with a rank of their shoulders that signify the type of professor that they are? Even though I am a civilian here, every day I get the privelage of getting up and joining the Corps of Cadets in the classroom at the nation's first private military college and the birthplace of ROTC. I look out my window and see a cadet salute a professor who is walking by and that is when I realize that this is no ordinary college. Sure there are other military colleges such as the Citadel or VMI, but when it comes to school and leading, no one does it better than Norwich. With a variety of majors to choose from, I would be impressed if you did not find one to suit your interests. 

I constantly hear stories from my friends about the "awesome parties" that go on at their schools at different colleges, but then when I bring up the stories from Norwich, I can hardly relate to theirs. My stories usually consist of cadre doing something funny to a Rook or something funny that a professor said which is then posted on Overheard at Norwich. As I listen to the stories of other college students, I realize how different Norwich actually is from those other colleges. Yet, I can't see myself at any other college.

Echo Taps

The Nineteenth Day of the Fourth Month of the Year 2013

Echo Taps

On Wednesday night we got to listen to Echo Taps on the UP. I love Taps, and when Echo Taps is played, I love it even more. For those of you who don't know, Echo Taps is just taps that is played, just like every night at 2200 hours, but instead of one person playing, another bugle literally echoes the other person playing Taps. Echo Taps is played when the school permits it to be played such as on Wednesday; it was played for everyone affected in the bombing of the Boston Marathon. The entire corps was formed up on the UP as Taps started at exactly 2200. Another bugle chimed in to echo the other's sounds from across the UP. This is what I got to experience on Wednesday night as Norwich University came together for a ceremony to pray and hope the best for those affected by the bombing.

A Long Weekend Done

The Ninth Day of the Fourth Month of the Year 2013

A Long Weekend Done

Well the incredibly long weekend is over. Ten prospects and 21 hours of writing for a textbook done! I feel like I have completed something amazing, and I cannot wait for the textbook to be published! A Rook's Guide to C++. Despite the sleep deprivation worse than an actual Rook, it was definitely a fun experience and I would definitely do it all over again if I had to. I loved writing about programming. I get to hold that book which will be in a few countries across the pond and say "I helped write this book and people across the world are using the textbook to learn programming!" Not many freshmen in college get the privelage of saying that, and I am deeply grateful for being able to be a part of that. I wrote about classes and struct, strings, arrays, assignments, and many other small things as well as helping edit and proofread thousands of other sentences. I loved it!

So now about those ten prospects. Yes, I had to take care of ten prospects for a night the day before NU101. It was slightly stressful having to keep track of ten people who had no idea what they were doing or what to do here. I was very easily able to do it though, and I found myself very easily being able to lead them from one place to another. I was able to get all ten of them from South Hall all the way to Plumley Armory at 0700 in about fiften minutes. I think that will make a good story for my officer interview for Maroon and Gold Key on Thursday. I hope I can get that officer position because the overnight information that is given out is not very timely or in a way that is helpful to me. With me being one of the maybe three male civilians in MGK, it would definitely be beneficial for me to be the overnight officer because I would be able to monitor and get out information to everyone who has a prospect. There are many details they we are not told that we should be told, and I would make sure MGK hosts would know! Anyway, I get to read World War Z for Literature this week! That's going to be the highlight of my week! Zombies!

The Final Stretch

The Thirty-First Day of the Third Month of the Year 2013

The Final Stretch

So here we are, the final six weeks of my freshman year and it is time to look back on what I have gone through. Arriving sick at Norwich for the first day of freshman orientation, starting a completely new cirriculum with classes that I have never even touched on in my high school career, finding a new group of friends, going through two roommates before finding one I like, and falling in love with the most amazing girl I have come across in my life. My freshman year has been full of ups and downs, bad days and good days, good grades and bad grades, but I have learned from everything this year, and I cannot wait to see what the next three years here at Norwich have in store for me. As I start to fully delve into my major in my sophomore year, I will get to fully experience what computer security is all about; I will find out what I will hopefully be doing for the rest of my life. If I have learned one thing this year, that is to never quit. Never stop going for what you want, never let your guard down, and never say "I can't..." You can make of your future whatever you want of it. It is your future and no one can tell you otherwise. I've been pushed to my limits and I've been driven insane by the people around me, but I've learned to cope and just keep doing my thing. I've been told by many people that I can't do things, but I have proven them wrong. I have proven to myself that I can do whatever I want in this world. My father once told me, "You can do whatever you want in life as long as you aren't breaking the law or hurting anyone else." I still have the letter...

Rocky Balboa once gave a speech to his son in Rocky Balboa. He shares his wisdom to his son, much like my father did to me.

    "Let me tell you something you already know.The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a     very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees     and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as     life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving     forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if     you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth! But you gotta be willing to     take the hits. And not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or     her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!"

Another Evo Test

The Twenty-Eighth Day of the Third Month of the Year 2013

Another Evo Test

Well, I have another Intro to Earth Evolution test tomorrow which means I get to spend all of tonight studying for something that has nothing to do with my major! That's one thing that I'm not very fond of at Norwich. The first couple semesters, depending on your major, you will probably get only one, if not none at all, class that has something to do with your major. You could spend hours studying for a test that is for a general education class, but you still need to pass it. Unfortunately, the amount of material on the Evolution test I have tomorrow is enormous, and I don't plan on doing anything else tonight...at least I get the day off of English tomorrow. If it weren't for the lab that comes along with my Intro to Earth Evolution class, I would probably be failing at this point. Lab grades are sixty percent of our grade so if you do well in lab, chances are your grade in the overall class is going to be good. I can't wait for this semester to be over and I will not have to deal with another lab class until senior year! Plus, next semester I get to choose my concentration and I will be taking classes that actually have to do with my major: Computer Security. 

Next weekend is NU101, so if you are planning on attending, I'm sure that I will probably see you there...I might not know you, but still! Apparently, according to the Maroon and Gold Key President, we are expecting over 1,000 more people to be on campus next weekend for the event. Yes, the campus will be crowded and full of high school students. I'm not really looking forward to having that many people on campus at the same time, but since I am helping out which will get me my MGK key, I am happy. A gold key to pin on business attire for civis and the same for cadets to pin on their B's. All the work we have done to host students, give tours, and provide insight into Norwich boils down to a few weeks at the end of the spring semester where the points are tallied up and people either get a key or they don't.

The First Week Back

The Twenty-Third Day of the Third Month of the Year 2013

The First Week Back

So it's finally the end of the first week after coming back from vacation. In a way, it seems as if we have been here for so long already. I would have rather just not had vacation; it's not like I saw anyone anyway. Vacation was, for the most part, quite boring. My friend Connor was in the Bahamas, my friend Mike was still at school, my dad was in Florida closing on a new house we bought down there, and my dog was down there with him. The only person I saw throughout the week was my mother. I have to say, it is quite depressing coming home after a couple months and not being able to see anyone, even if one of them is a dog. However, despite the lonely week, I did get to meet a bunch of new people at my new Civil Air Patrol squadron, and I already have a few friends. Going from a "sir" to an airman is quite the change. I recently decided to "downgrade" a little bit in CAP. I did not enjoy being a senior member in the least, so I decided to become a cadet. When I had joined in November, I was not told that I could be a cadet even at 18, but I learned a couple months ago that I could, in fact, be a cadet at my age, so I decided to take a leap of faith and become a cadet. In short, my senior member record will be completely wiped out and I will be starting fresh from scratch as a C/Amn.

Overall, I can't wait for this semester to be over, but I am not looking forward to summer believe it or not. Not being able to see my girlfriend on a daily basis will soon prove to be quite torturous. I finally have a summer job lined up working for one of my best friends as a painter. Supposedly I get paid nine dollars an hour and I will be working around twenty to forty hours per week! In a way, I kind of look forward to working this summer because I get to work with someone I know very well and I am finally going to be getting some sort of income. I've been all over the place looking for jobs during the summer as well as here on campus. Norwich has a great internship department as well as its Summer Research Fellowship. A lot of paid internships come to Norwich and those internships are passed along to students in the dicipline that the internship requires. If you don't hear about an internship before the end of your first year here, you aren't doing enough to stay connected with Norwich. Pay attention! They're out there! As far as the Summer Research Fellowship goes, simply put, if you have an idea for a research topic during the summer, present it, and you might just make a little cash along the way!

That Time Again

The Tenth Day of the Third Month of the Year 2013

That Time Again

Well, it's that time of the semester again. The campus starts to clear out, the UP is littered with cars of cadets who are packing to go home, the midterm tests and grades come to a close; it's mid-semester break, also known as spring break to many college students. A good mid-semester ends for me with three A-'s, one A, one B+, and one B; I am very proud of myself for working hard for the first half, now I have to keep it up for the second. Despite some low grades on quizzes, I managed to recover with even better test, lab, and homework grades. The thing I like about my classes is that the majority of the grades for them come from homework, such as Programming and English, or labs, such as Earth Evolution. As for my programming class, the homework totals sixty percent of my final grade, and since we do the homework in class, and that's the only thing we do in class, you can end up with a very good grade on it if you ask questions and do the readings and watch the videos that Professor Hansen posts onYouTube.

So the other day I got to experience one of the most breathtaking and inspiring events I have ever seen: Recognition. Norwich University holds a yearly tradition to recognize its Rooks into the Corps of Cadets. They get "woken up" a little after 2200 and they are forced into B's as they form up on the UP with their companies and platoons; they're most likely not asleep because they know what is coming, hence the quotes around woken up. Cannons constantly going off continuously remind the Rooks of what they are there for. They are brought back to the first days of Rookdom as their cadre, once again, yell as loud as possible to get them onto the UP. They are then marched down to Plumley with bagpipes playing that can be heard across campus and the upperclassmen marching down to the Armory. Although I was actually able to see what happened after that sequence of events, I will not share it. Norwich University holds its traditions dear and I fully respect and appreciate the fact that it might maintain a certain secrecy from those outside of Norwich. All I can say is that is was the greatest event that I have ever witnessed. In my first ever post I described a wall. A wall of noise that can only be experienced at Norwich. I, once again, experienced that wall of noise inside Plumley that night. Even though I was unable to be a Rook at Norwich for a variety of reasons, seeing the events that led to the Recognition of some of my closest friends at Norwich will be an event that I will remember for a long time.

If You Could Ask One Thing

The First Day of the Third Month of the Year 2013

If You Could Ask One Thing

 

What is it like living in a colder climate?

    You really get used to it! You get used to living in the cold so much that 30 degrees feels like beach weather, and I'm serious! For the first couple winter months you will find yourself bundled up in layers of clothing, but as the winter goes on, you might find yourself removing some layers because you will get hot. Sometimes it will get so cold that the hairs in your nose will freeze and the skin on your face will feel like ice.  

What is the best thing about Norwich? Or living in Vermont?

    For me, it's the scenery. The hills, the mountains, the trees especially in fall; it can get so beautiful here at times compared to other places, but you may have to be a true New Englander to appreciate it. There's so much to marvel at as far as nature goes, and it just gets better as the seasons go on. You get to see mountains full of green trees change into mountains of gold, red, and orange. You see those colors completely disappear as nothingness takes over everything surrounding you. Then comes the snow. The snow is absolutely beautiful. As much as I "hate" snow, it is still beautiful here! It encompasses the hills and the school as it is layered in huge blankets that become your life in Vermont. If you don't like snow in any way, shape, or form, I would suggest staying away from New England altogether because here, we get a lot of it.

How has Norwich made you a better person?

     Absolutely! I find myself using manners, even table manners a lot more often than I did before I came here. I even notice other people acting completely differently as compared to people back home. In one instance, someone found a wallet with credit cards and other items in it, and he posted on the South Hall facebook page that he had found it, and he was trying to look for the owner. For me, that is huge! Where I'm from, if someone found a wallet like that with all of those credit cards and cash, he would have taken it for himself. Even though there are a slight few who may not have these morals, the majority, by far, of the campus has a great sense of responsibility and ethics. 

How does Norwich compare to the other senior military colleges?

     Well as you have read, it has the honor of being the first private military college in the nation, plus it is the birthplace of the ROTC program. When you graduate and if decide to commission, you will get a first choice as to whether or not you want to go active duty. The Corps of Cadets is also entirely student run. We have leadership within the corps going all the way from the Rooks through the ranks to the Cadet Colonel who basically decides everything; he also decides how cold it is basically. If you're planning on coming as a Cadet/Rook, be prepared to take on a military lifestyle because you will take on a military lifestyle. 

What is your favorite thing about Norwich?

     My Major. I love my major! I am a computer security major and I could not be more happy with it! Every day I look forward to moving on in my cirriculum, but there are some classes that I find incredibly boring, but that doesn't matter because the majority of any major's cirriculum in the freshman year will be general education courses like histories, englishes, humanities, etc. I still take my major defined courses such as intro to programming and intro to computer security, which are very fun; they just make me look forward to sophomore year even more. My professors, for all courses, are fantastic, and I couldn't enjoy the academics side of school more...I've never said that before in my life.

How do you feel about the civilians on campus?

     There are some people in the Corps who do not like the civilian populace, but that's just normal. However, I have met many Cadets, Rooks and upperclassmen alike, who are pretty fond of having civilians on campus. I have many Corps friends. As long as you don't disrespect the Corps, the Corps won't disrespect you. 

How challenging is The Corps of cadets mentally and physically?

     I can't really answer this one as a civi. 

What is it really like as a Rook?

     Even though I am a civilian, I still have a ton of Rook friends, and from the way they describe it, it is very rough when you have to balance being a Rook and your studies. Oh, and you're going to be tired...a lot.

Ghost Town

The Twenty-Fourth Day of the Second Month of the Year 2013

Ghost Town

Sundays. Norwich is a ghost town, especially in the mornings. Walking to the chow hall I didn't even see a single person between the time I left my room and when I neared the Chapel. If you're looking for a nice and calm place on Sundays, Norwich is definitely the place. Rooks aren't allowed to sound off so they can't yell to their cadre nor can their cadre yell at them. Sundays is almost...peaceful here at Norwich, but at the same time I know it isn't. It's still a military college even though all of the upperclassmen are in civis on the weekends, and that means everyone is still insane. The flag is still raised, the rooks are still marched to breakfast and dinner, and the flag is still taken down with command retreat. Norwich is still Norwich even on the weekends. The one bad thing about the weekends here are the times that the chow hall is open. They don't open until 0930 on both days so if you're an early riser, you're not eating until at least that time. Then the chow hall is only open until 1230 so if you want to eat between 1230 and 1700, you have to go to the Mill and you need to buy food. Lastly, and worst of all, the chow hall is only open for dinner from 1700 to 1830 so if you're like me and you like to eat late, maybe around 1930, you can't unless you, again, go to the Mill. Otherwise, you need to change your eating habits for the weekend. Next year Sodexo is supposedly changing their hours for the weekends in order to make the students here happier. 

A couple weeks left until Spring Break, and only six or seven days until recognition. This is going to be an interesting week. The cadre and the officers are getting edgy. I noticed yesterday that a few cadre weren't wearing their cadre patches (basically green-colored rookdom patches), and when I asked one of my rook friends about it, she mentioned that those cadre got mad at their platoon and didn't want to be associated with them so they changed their patches...Interesting...Here's a shout out to all of my rook friends who have made it this far through rookdom; only one week to go guys! You can do it!

Cararra
Nelson
Neu
Lisky
Letourneau
O'Brien
Jones
Child
Wise